Eastern HS

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:What is the harm in some families opting into Eastern? If enough concerned families do, the conversation looks very different about the school years from now. I totally understand families who opt not to. For those who want to try their neighborhood school, what is the harm? There are always Catholic school options.

Well, for girls, there isn't a Catholic high school with strong academics in the area. The boys can go to Gonzaga or St Anselm's. But for girls, Seton isn't that great and Visi and Stone Ridge are pretty far.

This. My oldest is a girl and I'd feel much more comfortable about sending her to SH if there was a Gonzaga equivalent for girls to be a HS backup. I just don't know if we can realistically afford the elite privates (we have multiple kids) and Walls is such a crap shoot. I have heard more excitement about Banneker from friends recently, so I will definitely look into that, and SH getting 25 kids into Duke is nice, but I remain skeptical of the academics and the commute from the Hill is atrocious.

+1. If Eastern wanted to serve the kids who peel off to BASIS or Latin in 5th grade in order to have that high school option, it would change the whole middle school pattern, too.

What does the bolded even mean? Who thinks this is that easy?

Test score-based tracking for all academic subjects. Very much that easy. Not going to happen, but that's a separate issue.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:why are relevant posts getting deleted from this thread?

+1 I was going to ask the same thing. I understand there is some sort of moderation on this site, but none of the comments on this thread seemed off topic or inappropriate.

Maybe it was Banneker bashing. hating on Banneker is unfortunately something that happens here.

Interesting, I didn't see any bashing Banneker - but the one that alludes to Eastern being a 'sinking ship' like the Titanic is still on the page --

Anyway - I know a few families in the EPIC program who have been happy with the classes and the teachers thus far. I forget the number of kids the principal said were in the program this current school year, but it had grown since the prior years, and they were planning capacity for it to continue to grow. Hopefully with the transition in leadership they can continue the momentum and not have to re-start or change too many things.

1% at grade level in math on CAPE. 90% way below (scoring 1 or 2). 15% at grade level in English 77% way below. You wanna argue the school is succeeding and not (at best) treading water? I'm all ears.

I think the comment was in response to certain post being deleted, not arguing test scores. Everyone is allowed their own opinion, but it is helpful to have these conversations.
Separately, hasn’t it been discussed on here a bunch that high school math scores in general get skewed because some of the higher performing cohorts take high school level classes in middle school instead of high school?

Yes, but still, 1% of students passing any math test is very low.

I'm the person who made the Titanic post. You would think 1% passing would be a flashing red sign indicating a problem. But this is DC and this is DCUM. Any sincere effort to improve Eastern and attract higher performing cohorts starts with an acknowledgement that the current state is unacceptable and represents failure. But the usual suspects aren't gonna do that. They will argue with a straight face that 1% isn't really 1%. That somehow the data for Eastern is wrong or skewed (but not at Banneker? Or Walls?). They will attack anyone who dares suggest the ship is sinking.

If I may extend my metaphor, this would be a maritime experts (or anyone with eyes and a brain) suggesting that the navigation system is going haywire, the boat is headed for an iceberg and dramatic course correction is necessary for survival. DCUM is here to argue that the iceberg just looks close because of solar glare. Solar glare that only exists for their boat.

The students know that the assessments don’t count towards anything and therefore blow the test off. They aren’t motivated to do well on the assessments for that reason. The data means nothing to the students unless it’s attached to something.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:why are relevant posts getting deleted from this thread?

+1 I was going to ask the same thing. I understand there is some sort of moderation on this site, but none of the comments on this thread seemed off topic or inappropriate.

Maybe it was Banneker bashing. hating on Banneker is unfortunately something that happens here.

Interesting, I didn't see any bashing Banneker - but the one that alludes to Eastern being a 'sinking ship' like the Titanic is still on the page --

Anyway - I know a few families in the EPIC program who have been happy with the classes and the teachers thus far. I forget the number of kids the principal said were in the program this current school year, but it had grown since the prior years, and they were planning capacity for it to continue to grow. Hopefully with the transition in leadership they can continue the momentum and not have to re-start or change too many things.

1% at grade level in math on CAPE. 90% way below (scoring 1 or 2). 15% at grade level in English 77% way below. You wanna argue the school is succeeding and not (at best) treading water? I'm all ears.

I think the comment was in response to certain post being deleted, not arguing test scores. Everyone is allowed their own opinion, but it is helpful to have these conversations.
Separately, hasn’t it been discussed on here a bunch that high school math scores in general get skewed because some of the higher performing cohorts take high school level classes in middle school instead of high school?

Yes, but still, 1% of students passing any math test is very low.

I'm the person who made the Titanic post. You would think 1% passing would be a flashing red sign indicating a problem. But this is DC and this is DCUM. Any sincere effort to improve Eastern and attract higher performing cohorts starts with an acknowledgement that the current state is unacceptable and represents failure. But the usual suspects aren't gonna do that. They will argue with a straight face that 1% isn't really 1%. That somehow the data for Eastern is wrong or skewed (but not at Banneker? Or Walls?). They will attack anyone who dares suggest the ship is sinking.

If I may extend my metaphor, this would be a maritime experts (or anyone with eyes and a brain) suggesting that the navigation system is going haywire, the boat is headed for an iceberg and dramatic course correction is necessary for survival. DCUM is here to argue that the iceberg just looks close because of solar glare. Solar glare that only exists for their boat.

The students know that the assessments don’t count towards anything and therefore blow the test off. They aren’t motivated to do well on the assessments for that reason. The data means nothing to the students unless it’s attached to something.

But why would this be true for students at Eastern but not at J-R, Banneker, Walls, etc.? I believe some percentage of students blow off the assessments because they don't count towards anything for the students, but not all. And if more students at Eastern are blowing them off, you should be asking why (it speaks to a lack of conscientiousness and disinterest in the wellbeing of the school, since the assessments DO matter for the school as a whole). Kids not showing up for assessments or taking them but not trying actually indicate an academic problem all by itself, even if you can argue this practice is why the scores are so low.

But also, it's possible the scores are very low because student performance is very poor, even when kids are trying. And that's a problem and should be addressed. Making excuses to justify the low performance and then *doing nothing* is such a weird and unproductive way to approach this issue. Stop putting your head in the sand. If Eastern were offering a terrific academic experience and students were having a lot of success there, that would be apparent in scores, matriculation rates, college destinations, and college graduation rates. But all of those numbers are weak at Eastern. Are you really trying to argue that actually the school is doing great and the numbers are just lying? Come on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:why are relevant posts getting deleted from this thread?

+1 I was going to ask the same thing. I understand there is some sort of moderation on this site, but none of the comments on this thread seemed off topic or inappropriate.

Maybe it was Banneker bashing. hating on Banneker is unfortunately something that happens here.

Interesting, I didn't see any bashing Banneker - but the one that alludes to Eastern being a 'sinking ship' like the Titanic is still on the page --

Anyway - I know a few families in the EPIC program who have been happy with the classes and the teachers thus far. I forget the number of kids the principal said were in the program this current school year, but it had grown since the prior years, and they were planning capacity for it to continue to grow. Hopefully with the transition in leadership they can continue the momentum and not have to re-start or change too many things.

1% at grade level in math on CAPE. 90% way below (scoring 1 or 2). 15% at grade level in English 77% way below. You wanna argue the school is succeeding and not (at best) treading water? I'm all ears.

I think the comment was in response to certain post being deleted, not arguing test scores. Everyone is allowed their own opinion, but it is helpful to have these conversations.
Separately, hasn’t it been discussed on here a bunch that high school math scores in general get skewed because some of the higher performing cohorts take high school level classes in middle school instead of high school?

Yes, but still, 1% of students passing any math test is very low.

I'm the person who made the Titanic post. You would think 1% passing would be a flashing red sign indicating a problem. But this is DC and this is DCUM. Any sincere effort to improve Eastern and attract higher performing cohorts starts with an acknowledgement that the current state is unacceptable and represents failure. But the usual suspects aren't gonna do that. They will argue with a straight face that 1% isn't really 1%. That somehow the data for Eastern is wrong or skewed (but not at Banneker? Or Walls?). They will attack anyone who dares suggest the ship is sinking.

If I may extend my metaphor, this would be a maritime experts (or anyone with eyes and a brain) suggesting that the navigation system is going haywire, the boat is headed for an iceberg and dramatic course correction is necessary for survival. DCUM is here to argue that the iceberg just looks close because of solar glare. Solar glare that only exists for their boat.

The students know that the assessments don’t count towards anything and therefore blow the test off. They aren’t motivated to do well on the assessments for that reason. The data means nothing to the students unless it’s attached to something.

But why would this be true for students at Eastern but not at J-R, Banneker, Walls, etc.? I believe some percentage of students blow off the assessments because they don't count towards anything for the students, but not all. And if more students at Eastern are blowing them off, you should be asking why (it speaks to a lack of conscientiousness and disinterest in the wellbeing of the school, since the assessments DO matter for the school as a whole). Kids not showing up for assessments or taking them but not trying actually indicate an academic problem all by itself, even if you can argue this practice is why the scores are so low.

But also, it's possible the scores are very low because student performance is very poor, even when kids are trying. And that's a problem and should be addressed. Making excuses to justify the low performance and then *doing nothing* is such a weird and unproductive way to approach this issue. Stop putting your head in the sand. If Eastern were offering a terrific academic experience and students were having a lot of success there, that would be apparent in scores, matriculation rates, college destinations, and college graduation rates. But all of those numbers are weak at Eastern. Are you really trying to argue that actually the school is doing great and the numbers are just lying? Come on.

I genuinely think my kids would struggle to get a 1 or 2 on PARCC if they just read through and picked an answer and moved on with no pencil/paper for math and no planning/editing/re-reading for ELA. If kids were actually doing "fine" at Eastern, you'd have to believe that a huge proportion of kids only at that specific school just selected A for every answer and skipped the essays. It's just not plausible. And, honestly, if Eastern alone had a huge cohort of decent students doing that? I'd still be very concerned.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I wish they would be way more transparent about admissions and performance of the IB program. Maybe it's great! But there are numbers that exist that could be easily used to show this, if it's actually the case.

Well, clearly it's not great if 1% of the kids are passing the math CAPE. But yes, more information would be lovely.

If the 1% is the IB program students, then that’s fine. Your kid will be in the group of kids that are actually learning.

Not all the time. They will still take electives and participate in clubs and other ECs with the 99% of kids who are below grade level. Really think about what that means, to be in a school environment where the vast majority of students are struggling to meet minimum academic standards. Think how small and limited this will make your child's experience, how limiting it will be in terms of friendships, what it will look like for your kid post HS when so few peers pursue college, when many don't even graduate.

Some families don't have much choice of whether to send their kids to a school like that. But in DC people have a choice. And most parents who really value education will continue to not choose Eastern simply because they want more and better for their kids.

I mean … my kid is at a feeder MS for Eastern and I am aware of all of the considerations for his academic needs. But you sound really gross when you write off the less affluent and yes, Black kids, as being basically worthless. I can tell you that my kid is friends with kids of all types and some of those kids you see and worthless have been bright stars for his life. And he has learned to work with and understand all different types of people. I know you’ll claim I am a bad SJW parent but moving him to an all-white affluent school woule be a huge loss in many respects.

NP. You need to get help. No one is saying black kids are worthless. No one. All middle schools in the city are diverse and have black kids, some more than other.

Some kids don’t have options and have to take what life gives them and that is the lower SES kids is what PP is saying.

But as a parent, most with options will not send them to such a poorly performing school just because there of more diversity. They just are not. It’s not like kids at other schools are not friends with minority kids and can get the same experience either.

Also PP above is absolutely correct. The experience of your kid will be very different with friends who can’t relate to things, friends who can’t do things, etc….

The reason they won't send them though is because they don't want to interact with lower SES families and then the domino effect happens because almost all UMC families, who do have resources to help the school, leave.

Mann's PTO can literally fund teachers. Lots of Title 1 schools PTOs can maybe afford a couple pizza parties.

The education follows the money, not, as plenty here want to believe, the money follows the education. And you know that because your last sentence is literally we only want to be around other people with money.

When you are talking to parents that have their kids at an Eastern feeder for MS, to remotely suggest they don't want their kids at a school with Black or lower SES kids is laughable. This attitude is what drives people out of DCPS entirely. It's like when my coworkers with kids in the Whitman pyramid lecture me for being concerned about the lack of tracking in DCPS MSes outside of math and (sometimes) ELA. GTFO.

I actually said nothing about race. But the OP pretty blatantly said other kids "can't relate" so yes there's a clear SES issue at play at a lot of schools like Eastern. As higher SES kids leave, parents get gun shy about being the only ones left and that sets off a mad dash of higher performing kids.

I'm not saying Eastern is perfect, but there's absolutely SES prisoner's dilemma that happens at more diverse socioeconomic schools. There are whole threads on here about how terrible the J-R principal is and the drug problems at Hardy and MacArthur. And yet UMC families in other feeders are Hunger Games style lotterying for spots because since they're in predominantly wealthy areas there's the assumption that you'll always have a pipeline of UMC and wealthy kids and families and thus test scores won't drop and kids will have peer hobbies.

I'm not judging people who are weary of other DCPS HSs I'm simply stating that there is obviously an underlying SES impact at play here and causes issues for both families and the schools themselves.

In your zeal to burnish your woketastic credentials you've gone and said the quiet part out loud and exposed yourself as a hypocrite. Low SES is not the same thing as low performing. And black is not the same thing as low performing. Ironically YOU and your brethren here on DCUM make that argument not the people you are slinging arrows at.

You know who else won't send their kids to Eastern? Parents of high achieving black kids and parents of high achieving lol SES kids. I guess they are racist and classist too?

I want my kid to be in a large cohort of kids with college and professional job expectations. Don't care how rich they are or what color they are. The only people in this discussion arguing we should be cognizant of race or SES over performance is you.

Oh stuff it. we all know the PPs and you as well are equating black with low SES with uninterested in academics.

You are bringing your own implicit bias into this and confusing causation with correlation. Eastern's population is mostly uninterested in academics. It is also mostly back. I don't want my kid in an environment where almost all kids don't care about academics and are years behind grade level. Irrespective of race. The only person who can't separate those two things is you.

ask yourself why you feel the need to come here and enlighten us of those beliefs? Nobody asked you. We also know that if this was a thread about SH, EH, Hardy, McKinley, Banneker, JT or Macarthur, you would spout the same toxicity. there’s a certain type of parent who cannot tolerate the fact that not everyone runs away like they did/feel like they must do.

I'm not PP, but I don't think you should send your kid to Eastern. The 84% of families zoned for Eastern who send their kids elsewhere aren't wrong.

I wouldn't say that definitively about any of the other schools on your list.

I can't speak for others, but the issue may be that the post was asking for input on Eastern. IMO that would be useful coming from people who are at the school, or who at the very least know people at the school or who have set foot in the school. If the point was just to read stats from a website or read articles, that can be done individually and could be part of a larger discussion about truancy, schools, safety, crime, funding, etc. Lots of folks coming on to this thread who know nothing about the school except for what you can find in a google search, which does not really add much to the discussion

The problem with this is that, as several PPs pointed out, there are not a ton of families at Eastern who are heavily invested in academics and education. They may like Eastern for the community, the great marching band, the location, and the history. But most families are not at Eastern for the academics, other than a tiny number who are buying into the IB program.

Well most people who are posting on DCUM about schools are heavily invested in academics. So the Venn diagram of Eastern families and families on DCUM is very nearly two separate circles, thus this is a very bad place to come asking for feedback on experiences at Eastern.

you’re not right. The people who are likely to have information on academics at Eastern are also likely to be DCUM readers. there are many highly educated families on the Hill who gather information about all options.

Two people have posted about "gathering information" on Eastern and then choosing other schools because Eastern was not a good academic fit for their kids. Not a single poster on the thread, in 8 pages, has posted about the experience of sending their kid to Eastern. Because, as I said, DCUM is unlikely to have many, if any, Eastern parents, and thus is a bad place to ask for feedback on experiences at Eastern.

This is not a knock on Eastern.

Amen. Lots of defensive people arguing DCUM is a perfectly good place to get info on Eastern and no one actually sending their kids there. It's kind of amusing and offensive how many people think they are somehow defending Eastern by telling us that they "looked at it" but sent their kid somewhere else. The subtext is that a "good kid like mine was willing to look so bully for Eastern!"

This. It's classic DCUM though. Criticize other parents for opting out of IB schools, but then when it's your turn, well it's just not a good fit but it's a great school!

If Eastern wants to boost the number of high SES and white IB kids attending (and that's an if because I honestly don't know) they presumably learn more from parents who are willing to be honest about why they are opting out of Eastern than they do from people who lie to themselves and others.

Honestly parents are going to realize that schools are going to have to use zip code as a proxy for race in admissions after recent court decisions, and consequently going to Eastern is really going to help the marginal white and Asian kid out.

Something analogous to this happened in Texas but it took a while

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:why are relevant posts getting deleted from this thread?

+1 I was going to ask the same thing. I understand there is some sort of moderation on this site, but none of the comments on this thread seemed off topic or inappropriate.

Maybe it was Banneker bashing. hating on Banneker is unfortunately something that happens here.

Interesting, I didn't see any bashing Banneker - but the one that alludes to Eastern being a 'sinking ship' like the Titanic is still on the page --

Anyway - I know a few families in the EPIC program who have been happy with the classes and the teachers thus far. I forget the number of kids the principal said were in the program this current school year, but it had grown since the prior years, and they were planning capacity for it to continue to grow. Hopefully with the transition in leadership they can continue the momentum and not have to re-start or change too many things.

1% at grade level in math on CAPE. 90% way below (scoring 1 or 2). 15% at grade level in English 77% way below. You wanna argue the school is succeeding and not (at best) treading water? I'm all ears.

I think the comment was in response to certain post being deleted, not arguing test scores. Everyone is allowed their own opinion, but it is helpful to have these conversations.
Separately, hasn’t it been discussed on here a bunch that high school math scores in general get skewed because some of the higher performing cohorts take high school level classes in middle school instead of high school?

Yes, but still, 1% of students passing any math test is very low.

I'm the person who made the Titanic post. You would think 1% passing would be a flashing red sign indicating a problem. But this is DC and this is DCUM. Any sincere effort to improve Eastern and attract higher performing cohorts starts with an acknowledgement that the current state is unacceptable and represents failure. But the usual suspects aren't gonna do that. They will argue with a straight face that 1% isn't really 1%. That somehow the data for Eastern is wrong or skewed (but not at Banneker? Or Walls?). They will attack anyone who dares suggest the ship is sinking.

If I may extend my metaphor, this would be a maritime experts (or anyone with eyes and a brain) suggesting that the navigation system is going haywire, the boat is headed for an iceberg and dramatic course correction is necessary for survival. DCUM is here to argue that the iceberg just looks close because of solar glare. Solar glare that only exists for their boat.

The students know that the assessments don’t count towards anything and therefore blow the test off. They aren’t motivated to do well on the assessments for that reason. The data means nothing to the students unless it’s attached to something.

But why would this be true for students at Eastern but not at J-R, Banneker, Walls, etc.? I believe some percentage of students blow off the assessments because they don't count towards anything for the students, but not all. And if more students at Eastern are blowing them off, you should be asking why (it speaks to a lack of conscientiousness and disinterest in the wellbeing of the school, since the assessments DO matter for the school as a whole). Kids not showing up for assessments or taking them but not trying actually indicate an academic problem all by itself, even if you can argue this practice is why the scores are so low.

But also, it's possible the scores are very low because student performance is very poor, even when kids are trying. And that's a problem and should be addressed. Making excuses to justify the low performance and then *doing nothing* is such a weird and unproductive way to approach this issue. Stop putting your head in the sand. If Eastern were offering a terrific academic experience and students were having a lot of success there, that would be apparent in scores, matriculation rates, college destinations, and college graduation rates. But all of those numbers are weak at Eastern. Are you really trying to argue that actually the school is doing great and the numbers are just lying? Come on.

I genuinely think my kids would struggle to get a 1 or 2 on PARCC if they just read through and picked an answer and moved on with no pencil/paper for math and no planning/editing/re-reading for ELA. If kids were actually doing "fine" at Eastern, you'd have to believe that a huge proportion of kids only at that specific school just selected A for every answer and skipped the essays. It's just not plausible. And, honestly, if Eastern alone had a huge cohort of decent students doing that? I'd still be very concerned.

Getting a 2 or a 1 on the PARCC required near malicious compliance levels of incorrect answers on the part of the student. It’s worrying anyone gets a 1.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:why are relevant posts getting deleted from this thread?

+1 I was going to ask the same thing. I understand there is some sort of moderation on this site, but none of the comments on this thread seemed off topic or inappropriate.

Maybe it was Banneker bashing. hating on Banneker is unfortunately something that happens here.

Interesting, I didn't see any bashing Banneker - but the one that alludes to Eastern being a 'sinking ship' like the Titanic is still on the page --

Anyway - I know a few families in the EPIC program who have been happy with the classes and the teachers thus far. I forget the number of kids the principal said were in the program this current school year, but it had grown since the prior years, and they were planning capacity for it to continue to grow. Hopefully with the transition in leadership they can continue the momentum and not have to re-start or change too many things.

1% at grade level in math on CAPE. 90% way below (scoring 1 or 2). 15% at grade level in English 77% way below. You wanna argue the school is succeeding and not (at best) treading water? I'm all ears.

I think the comment was in response to certain post being deleted, not arguing test scores. Everyone is allowed their own opinion, but it is helpful to have these conversations.
Separately, hasn’t it been discussed on here a bunch that high school math scores in general get skewed because some of the higher performing cohorts take high school level classes in middle school instead of high school?

Yes, but still, 1% of students passing any math test is very low.

I'm the person who made the Titanic post. You would think 1% passing would be a flashing red sign indicating a problem. But this is DC and this is DCUM. Any sincere effort to improve Eastern and attract higher performing cohorts starts with an acknowledgement that the current state is unacceptable and represents failure. But the usual suspects aren't gonna do that. They will argue with a straight face that 1% isn't really 1%. That somehow the data for Eastern is wrong or skewed (but not at Banneker? Or Walls?). They will attack anyone who dares suggest the ship is sinking.

If I may extend my metaphor, this would be a maritime experts (or anyone with eyes and a brain) suggesting that the navigation system is going haywire, the boat is headed for an iceberg and dramatic course correction is necessary for survival. DCUM is here to argue that the iceberg just looks close because of solar glare. Solar glare that only exists for their boat.

The students know that the assessments don’t count towards anything and therefore blow the test off. They aren’t motivated to do well on the assessments for that reason. The data means nothing to the students unless it’s attached to something.

Oh really?

Is that why the average SAT score at Eastern is 818? That is the bottom 10-17 percent of test takers nationally.

Eastern students just blow off the SAT because...hey...it doesn't count for anything and they can just work at Walmart.

[Anonymous]

If Eastern is improving, it is at a glacial pace. Perhaps by the time folks have grand babies applying to high school, there will have been significant improvement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If Eastern is improving, it is at a glacial pace. Perhaps by the time folks have grand babies applying to high school, there will have been significant improvement.

Reading this whole thread it sounds like nobody is claiming the school is perfect or that all of the kids at the school are performing at grade level. It is a question of ‘cohort’ size as people love to talk about here. I know families whose kids are there (mine are not old enough to attend yet) and those kids are taking advantage of all of the courses and programs and having a good experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If Eastern is improving, it is at a glacial pace. Perhaps by the time folks have grand babies applying to high school, there will have been significant improvement.

Reading this whole thread it sounds like nobody is claiming the school is perfect or that all of the kids at the school are performing at grade level. It is a question of ‘cohort’ size as people love to talk about here. I know families whose kids are there (mine are not old enough to attend yet) and those kids are taking advantage of all of the courses and programs and having a good experience.

There were only two students last year who tested proficient on the math DC CAPE at Eastern. That is not a cohort.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If Eastern is improving, it is at a glacial pace. Perhaps by the time folks have grand babies applying to high school, there will have been significant improvement.

Reading this whole thread it sounds like nobody is claiming the school is perfect or that all of the kids at the school are performing at grade level. It is a question of ‘cohort’ size as people love to talk about here. I know families whose kids are there (mine are not old enough to attend yet) and those kids are taking advantage of all of the courses and programs and having a good experience.

I also know (highly educated) families with kids there who like it. I'm not telling to send your kids there: We are inbounds but sending our kids to a charter school, and clearly most kids from college-educated families who are inbounds are not attending. But if you're interested, don't dismiss it out of hand. For some kids, it can be a good choice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:why are relevant posts getting deleted from this thread?

+1 I was going to ask the same thing. I understand there is some sort of moderation on this site, but none of the comments on this thread seemed off topic or inappropriate.

Maybe it was Banneker bashing. hating on Banneker is unfortunately something that happens here.

Interesting, I didn't see any bashing Banneker - but the one that alludes to Eastern being a 'sinking ship' like the Titanic is still on the page --

Anyway - I know a few families in the EPIC program who have been happy with the classes and the teachers thus far. I forget the number of kids the principal said were in the program this current school year, but it had grown since the prior years, and they were planning capacity for it to continue to grow. Hopefully with the transition in leadership they can continue the momentum and not have to re-start or change too many things.

1% at grade level in math on CAPE. 90% way below (scoring 1 or 2). 15% at grade level in English 77% way below. You wanna argue the school is succeeding and not (at best) treading water? I'm all ears.

I think the comment was in response to certain post being deleted, not arguing test scores. Everyone is allowed their own opinion, but it is helpful to have these conversations.
Separately, hasn’t it been discussed on here a bunch that high school math scores in general get skewed because some of the higher performing cohorts take high school level classes in middle school instead of high school?

Yes, but still, 1% of students passing any math test is very low.

I'm the person who made the Titanic post. You would think 1% passing would be a flashing red sign indicating a problem. But this is DC and this is DCUM. Any sincere effort to improve Eastern and attract higher performing cohorts starts with an acknowledgement that the current state is unacceptable and represents failure. But the usual suspects aren't gonna do that. They will argue with a straight face that 1% isn't really 1%. That somehow the data for Eastern is wrong or skewed (but not at Banneker? Or Walls?). They will attack anyone who dares suggest the ship is sinking.

If I may extend my metaphor, this would be a maritime experts (or anyone with eyes and a brain) suggesting that the navigation system is going haywire, the boat is headed for an iceberg and dramatic course correction is necessary for survival. DCUM is here to argue that the iceberg just looks close because of solar glare. Solar glare that only exists for their boat.

The students know that the assessments don’t count towards anything and therefore blow the test off. They aren’t motivated to do well on the assessments for that reason. The data means nothing to the students unless it’s attached to something.

But why would this be true for students at Eastern but not at J-R, Banneker, Walls, etc.? I believe some percentage of students blow off the assessments because they don't count towards anything for the students, but not all. And if more students at Eastern are blowing them off, you should be asking why (it speaks to a lack of conscientiousness and disinterest in the wellbeing of the school, since the assessments DO matter for the school as a whole). Kids not showing up for assessments or taking them but not trying actually indicate an academic problem all by itself, even if you can argue this practice is why the scores are so low.

But also, it's possible the scores are very low because student performance is very poor, even when kids are trying. And that's a problem and should be addressed. Making excuses to justify the low performance and then *doing nothing* is such a weird and unproductive way to approach this issue. Stop putting your head in the sand. If Eastern were offering a terrific academic experience and students were having a lot of success there, that would be apparent in scores, matriculation rates, college destinations, and college graduation rates. But all of those numbers are weak at Eastern. Are you really trying to argue that actually the school is doing great and the numbers are just lying? Come on.

100% of kids at Banneker and Walls are college bound and J-R isn't far behind them. If you knew that you weren't going to law school, would you still study for the LSAT is offered to 100% of college seniors?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If Eastern is improving, it is at a glacial pace. Perhaps by the time folks have grand babies applying to high school, there will have been significant improvement.

Reading this whole thread it sounds like nobody is claiming the school is perfect or that all of the kids at the school are performing at grade level. It is a question of ‘cohort’ size as people love to talk about here. I know families whose kids are there (mine are not old enough to attend yet) and those kids are taking advantage of all of the courses and programs and having a good experience.

Can you be more specific as to what they like and dislike about Eastern? Just saying good experience is extremely vague and doesn’t help move the needle in either direction

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:why are relevant posts getting deleted from this thread?

+1 I was going to ask the same thing. I understand there is some sort of moderation on this site, but none of the comments on this thread seemed off topic or inappropriate.

Maybe it was Banneker bashing. hating on Banneker is unfortunately something that happens here.

Interesting, I didn't see any bashing Banneker - but the one that alludes to Eastern being a 'sinking ship' like the Titanic is still on the page --

Anyway - I know a few families in the EPIC program who have been happy with the classes and the teachers thus far. I forget the number of kids the principal said were in the program this current school year, but it had grown since the prior years, and they were planning capacity for it to continue to grow. Hopefully with the transition in leadership they can continue the momentum and not have to re-start or change too many things.

1% at grade level in math on CAPE. 90% way below (scoring 1 or 2). 15% at grade level in English 77% way below. You wanna argue the school is succeeding and not (at best) treading water? I'm all ears.

I think the comment was in response to certain post being deleted, not arguing test scores. Everyone is allowed their own opinion, but it is helpful to have these conversations.
Separately, hasn’t it been discussed on here a bunch that high school math scores in general get skewed because some of the higher performing cohorts take high school level classes in middle school instead of high school?

Yes, but still, 1% of students passing any math test is very low.

I'm the person who made the Titanic post. You would think 1% passing would be a flashing red sign indicating a problem. But this is DC and this is DCUM. Any sincere effort to improve Eastern and attract higher performing cohorts starts with an acknowledgement that the current state is unacceptable and represents failure. But the usual suspects aren't gonna do that. They will argue with a straight face that 1% isn't really 1%. That somehow the data for Eastern is wrong or skewed (but not at Banneker? Or Walls?). They will attack anyone who dares suggest the ship is sinking.

If I may extend my metaphor, this would be a maritime experts (or anyone with eyes and a brain) suggesting that the navigation system is going haywire, the boat is headed for an iceberg and dramatic course correction is necessary for survival. DCUM is here to argue that the iceberg just looks close because of solar glare. Solar glare that only exists for their boat.

If you are a family with resources, a 1% passing school is actually really good. If you student has any ability, they'll get into a top college easily.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If Eastern is improving, it is at a glacial pace. Perhaps by the time folks have grand babies applying to high school, there will have been significant improvement.

Reading this whole thread it sounds like nobody is claiming the school is perfect or that all of the kids at the school are performing at grade level. It is a question of ‘cohort’ size as people love to talk about here. I know families whose kids are there (mine are not old enough to attend yet) and those kids are taking advantage of all of the courses and programs and having a good experience.

There were only two students last year who tested proficient on the math DC CAPE at Eastern. That is not a cohort.

But the advanced cohort wouldn’t be taking a math CAPE in high school, right? So that score doesn’t reflect on the size or strength of that cohort.